


odour of peace

by Potrix



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alpha Bucky Barnes, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Beta Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes Feels, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Drabble, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Omega Tony Stark, Panic Attacks, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Pre-Slash, Recovery, Scenting, Scents & Smells, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-08
Updated: 2019-01-08
Packaged: 2019-10-06 10:12:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17343419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Potrix/pseuds/Potrix
Summary: As a Beta, Steve might be able to read Bucky’s body language, but he can’t smell the sour, panicked scent basically rolling off of him, growing stronger and thicker by the second. Tony can, though, and he doesn’t even think before he moves closer to Barnes, led by basic instinct more than anything else. He ignores Steve’s concerned, “Tony,” as he comes to a stop only inches away from Barnes, and waits until Barnes meets his eyes before he bares his neck in invitation.





	odour of peace

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Shi_Toyu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shi_Toyu/gifts).



> One of [Shi_Toyu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shi_toyu)'s prompts from the [WI Holiday Exchange](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/2018_WinterIron_Holiday_Exchange) caught my eye while I was revealing the gifts yesterday, and I couldn't resist. So here's a little drabble about how all of that might've started. 
> 
> Prompt: "A/B/O verse. Alpha Bucky and Omega Tony. Tony is the only Omega on the Avengers team and, after being brought back to the tower by Steve, Bucky freaks out around other Alphas. Tony and whatever Betas are on the team are the only ones he'll allow in the room with him, but Tony is clearly his favorite. Bucky continually curls around him and shoves him nose in Tony's scent glands, a move usually used as a precursor to mating."

It takes weeks of negotiating and arguing with Ross, a good dozen evaluations from private as well as government appointed psychiatrists, and then Fury pulling some of his mysterious strings on top of that before Barnes is finally released from the U.N. holding facility and allowed to move into Avengers Tower post the Project Insight disaster. 

Tony would never admit it out loud, let alone in Steve’s presence, but he’s kind of relieved the whole process takes a while. He feels guilty about it, sure, but he doesn’t think he can be blamed for needing a little bit of time to digest the fact that the guy who’d brutally murdered his parents is about to be living only a couple of floors away. 

Not that Tony believes that Barnes is the one responsible for it—he’s uncomfortably familiar with being used—but it was Barnes’ face staring at them in that footage, Barnes’ hands around his mother’s neck—

Tony needs some time and space to convince the irrational, emotional part of himself that Barnes’ is the biggest victim in this scenario, is all. 

He probably needn’t have worried, though, because the pale, shaky, wide-eyed man Steve introduces him to looks nothing at all like the Winter Soldier. It takes him nearly thirty seconds to take Tony’s outstretched hand, shake it once, quickly, and then drop it again like it’s on fire. 

Tony mentally readjusts his plans, and leads them down to the floor Steve, and now Barnes’, apartment is on, instead of up to the communal floor. Barnes immediately starts checking what looks like every nook and cranny, peeking into drawers and behind furniture, while Steve flops down on the couch, looking exhausted.

“Thanks, bud,” he says through a sigh when Tony joins him after grabbing them a couple of beers. “It’s been. Tough. Let’s go with tough.” 

They order food, eventually, after Barnes has finished his inspection, and Steve has quietly reassured him until he gingerly joined them in the living room, sitting stiffly in one of the armchairs. He doesn’t say anything, but does hum and nod whenever he’s spoken too, and his shoulders slowly but steadily lose some of their tension.

That changes again as soon as one of the tower employees brings up their food. Barnes freezes—which is a feat, because it’s not like he’d been moving much before—the instant the door opens, staying completely still for a long, drawn out moment, and then he’s on the side farthest away from the entrance, back pressed against the wall and growl-whining loudly, eyes fixed on the shocked Alpha standing there with take-out bags in her arms. 

Steve practically slams the door in the poor girl’s face with a hasty, “Sorry, gotta go, bye!” and drops the food on the coffee table before slowly approaching Barnes, hands held up placatingly. “Hey, Buck, it’s okay. You’re fine, she’s gone, everything’s fine.” 

He keeps talking quietly, soothingly, but Barnes stays tense and wild-eyed, alternating between letting out distressed sounds, and baring his teeth at Steve, effectively keeping him at a distance. As a Beta, Steve might be able to read Bucky’s body language, but he can’t smell the sour, panicked scent basically rolling off of him, growing stronger and thicker by the second. 

Tony can, though, and he doesn’t even think before he moves closer to Barnes, led by basic instinct more than anything else. He ignores Steve’s concerned, “Tony,” as he comes to a stop only inches away from Barnes, and waits until Barnes meets his eyes before he bares his neck in invitation. 

Barnes reacts in a flash; his metal hand shoots out, curling around the back of Tony’s neck, and then Tony’s reeled in even closer, chest bumping against Barnes’. His thumb presses under Tony’s chin, tilting his head back some more, and then his nose is shoved up right against Tony’s scent glands, mouth open and panting against Tony’s throat. 

It makes Tony’s skin prickle, and he has to steady himself with his hands on Barnes’ shoulders. Barnes hums, approving, so Tony tentatively, carefully, strokes his hands down his arms and then back up again, repeating the motion when he can feel Barnes shudder against him.

“That’s it, buddy, you’re doing great,” Tony murmurs, moving his hands up past Barnes’ shoulders to tangle his fingers into Barnes’ hair. Barnes lets out a high-pitched whine at that, lashes fluttering softly against Tony’s skin, and then goes completely lax. “Oof, okay. Easy there, big guy.”

Somehow, with Steve helping, they end up on the floor, Barnes sitting against the wall, Tony mostly in his lap, and Barnes’ face still tucked into Tony’s neck. He’s breathing slower now, both arms wound around Tony’s waist, needily leaning into Tony’s petting hands. He doesn’t protest when Steve takes a seat next to them, and, after a moment, shifts enough—gently, without dislodging Tony—that his upper arm is pressed against Steve’s. 

The raspy, barely audible, “Thanks,” startles Tony, but not as much as the tiny, delicate kiss Barnes’ brushes across the sensitive skin over his glands before laying his head down on Tony’s shoulder with a quiet, almost content sigh. 

“Anytime,” Tony manages, stomach swooping, and hides his smile in Barnes’ hair.

**Author's Note:**

> Go check out my other [work](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Potrix/works), or come over and say hi on [tumblr](http://potrix-the-queerschlaeger.tumblr.com).


End file.
